Merry Christmas, Hino Rei
by Star Kindler1
Summary: It's Christmas, and Rei is feeling lonely without someone to love. But a visit from some sort of angel changes that!


Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon or Gundam Wing.

Dedication: Priscilla, I loved your story. Continue Need with MORE REI/HEERO!!!

It's Christmas In July time! (Actually it's June, but it'll be July soon, sooo…)

Um, this was written really fast because I wanted to get it done. So if the writing isn't what you hoped for, or the spelling/grammar isn't good, well that's my fault. Please no negative reviews on this! I tried…^_^;

Hino Rei walked downtown, tears falling softly from her amethyst eyes and landing in the fresh, new fallen snow. She walked quickly, attempting not to see the holiday decorations. Every light, every blast of cheery music reminded her of what she didn't have. Love. A family. All of her friends had one or the other, most had both. But Rei had neither; she had no one to spend the cold nights with. She just sat in the dark, alone, all alone.

Rei walked faster, trying to make the scenery a blur as she heard the crunch of her footsteps. Every smile on the faces of people walking by, every loving glance from couples was like a stab to Rei's heart. She could stand it no longer. Rei turned off the sidewalk and ran into the park. Hopefully she could get some peace there, away from all the busy happiness of her city.

As Rei walked below the trees, boughs heavy with snowfall, she came upon a sight that made her heart ache. On the pond in the middle of the park were pairs of lovers, skating across the glistening ice. Despite her anguish, Rei looked closer. Her eyes widened with recognition and pain as she saw Minako gliding serenely across the frozen surface, arm in arm with a guy. Rei's head reeled as she saw all the rest of her friends follow Minako, holding hands with their loves. Tears pooled in Rei's eyes, blurring her sight.

Rei ran away as fast as she could from the haunting vision: all her friends there, happy, in love; and her, alone, no family, no love, just loneliness. 

_iForever lonely, Hino Rei,/i_ a voice seemed to call. i_While your friends are having fun, you will stand to attention at your post, guarding. The lonely warrior with nowhere to go, forever longing for light, affection, life itself. Your ojii-chan's death was the end of the only person who cared for you…/i_

Rei sat on a bench, beyond tears now, just contemplating her sorry fate. She was startled from her reverie by a girl's voice.

"Konban wa." Rei looked up into the face of some girl she didn't know. The girl had long wavy hair and deep, soulful brown eyes. 

"Is this seat taken?" she asked, pointing to the bench and smiling. Rei didn't smile back.

"Iie." she responded, and then went back to thinking, entirely ignoring the girl beside her. The girl cleared her throat.

"Tenjou Akari desu. Had a rough day? It's Christmas Eve, you know. Shouldn't you be out at some celebration? There's no chance a girl like you wouldn't have a boyfriend." Akari's words hung in the air, while expressions of pain flashed across Rei's face. 

Rei eventually muttered, "I don't have a boyfriend because there's only one guy I'm interested in." Akari seemed unfazed.

"So?"

"He's already got a girlfriend who is everything a perfect bishonen like him could want. Relena is sophisticated, compassionate, she hangs on to every word he says, and she's not opinionated or temperamental like me." Rei sighed. "And I can't just get over him. He's all I have left to love, now." Akari raised a brow incredulously.

"What do you mean by that?" Rei's sparkling lavender eyes began to fill with tears.

"Ojii-chan…died a few days ago." The past tense tasted bitter in her mouth. Rei thought of them lowering her last real family member into the ground. "He was like a father to me after my real father left me. And now, I am completely alone." She choked back a sob. "All of my friends have love. Usagi and Mamoru, Minako, Hotaru, Makoto, Michiru and Haruka, Ami…" Rei's voice trailed off softly. "All but me." Akari shot her a look of sympathy.

"This Relena…why do you think Heero and her are a couple?" she asked.

"He has saved her from death many times. They have a special bond,"

"Wouldn't he save others from death?" Rei kept right on going as if she had never heard Akari.

"Relena is always going places with him, they are practically never apart."

"Are you sure that's what he wants?" said Akari quizzically. Rei's violet eyes flashed.

"Stop trying to give me false hope! He wants nothing to do with me. Heero is in love with Relena. She calls him 'Hee-chan,' for God's sake!" Rei yelled, her voice cracking with pain. Akari smiled.

"But does he call her that?" she asked innocently.

"Don't play with my emotions! He hates me, and that is final! He avoids me, doesn't talk to me, and he's always the same: cold, hardhearted and emotionless." A smile played across Akari's lips as she heard this.

"Listen to me. Tell Heero how you feel; he just might feel the same way. If not, no loss, he didn't like you anyway." Akari's face lit up in a wide grin. She stood and walked away, seeming to disappear; viewing wasn't good in the moonlight.

"Merry Christmas, Hino Rei." Rei smiled. Though she wasn't going to heed her advice, this strange girl really seemed to care about her. 

Rei looked down at the ground. Where there should have been footprints in the snow, there was nothing at all, no trace that Akari had been there. Rei's gaze turned to the side of the bench where Akari had sat. No imprint marred the surface of the snow; it was completely untouched. Rei's heart beat faster as she remembered. *I never told her my name.* Snow fell again, and if you listened closely, the faint beating of wings could be heard…  

~~~**~~~

Rei walked back downtown slowly, thinking about what she had just seen and heard. She was so lost in thought that she didn't notice where her feet were taking her. She was going right to Heero's apartment. Rei snapped back into reality on Heero's doorstep. *Why am I here?* she asked herself. But before she could turn back, Heero opened the door.

          "What do you want?" he asked icily. Rei blushed.

          "K—konban wa. Um, can I come in?" Heero smiled, causing Rei's heart to give a jump. She had never seen Heero smile before. He motioned her in the door and hung her coat for her on a rack.

          As Rei walked in the door, she saw Duo sitting on a chair, watching TV. She waved, and Duo gave her a friendly grin.

          "Ohayoo, Duo-kun!" said Rei.

          "Ohayoo, Rei-chan," replied Duo, and went back to watching television. There was a hush, punctuated only by the TV. Duo could tell by the look on his best friend's face that he wasn't comfortable being anywhere near Rei, and vice versa. They both looked really embarrassed, which was quite a feat for Heero Yuy. Duo eventually couldn't stand the silence.

          "Heero, are you just going to stand there and not talk at all? What about Rei?" he asked. Heero obviously wasn't paying much attention; he was staring into space.

          "Hello? Earth to Heero: do you read me, Heero? Heero? Relena has just been kidnapped by aliens and Treize's ghost now inhabits the body of Rei! Ah, nevermind..." muttered Duo. "Heero, you're no fun at all, do you know that?" Suddenly, the television went fuzzy.

"Kuso!" swore Duo. "I'm going over to Makoto's to watch some television. Ja ne, Rei, Heero." Duo dashed out the door, eager not to miss any of his show. Rei walked over to the television, inspecting it for defects.

"Here's the problem. He didn't plug in the cable, the baka." She rushed to the door. "Duo? Duo, you can come back—"

"—no, he probably wants to go over to Mako's." interrupted Heero. "Let him go."

"Okay…" said Rei reluctantly. There was a long pause. "I guess I'd better go then. Nice seeing you again, Heero. Merry Christmas," said Rei, walking over to get her coat from the rack. She glanced out the window as she went, and the lack of snow in the air caught her eye.

"Oh, look! The snow stopped falling!" she exclaimed, putting her coat back on the rack. "I'm going to go out on the balcony for a quick look, okay?"

"Sure," Heero replied. As Rei walked out into the cold, crisp air, Heero followed her on to the balcony. It was night, the stars twinkling points of light in the dark sky. The balcony was covered in a layer of new fallen snow. Rei leaned closer to Heero, and a shiver went down her spine. It was beautiful outside. Glistening icicles, like spires of pearl and silver, hung from the roof, and now that the sky was clear the balcony was drenched in moonlight. 

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" asked Rei, not taking her eyes off the stars.

"Yes, it is," replied Heero, not paying attention to the sky, but staring at Rei. "The most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

"Heero?"

"Yes?"

"I love…" iThis is it,/i thought Rei. iDon't chicken out. Come on…/i

this time of year," she finished lamely, wishing on all the stars in the sky that she had the bravery necessary to tell Heero how she really felt.

"So do I," murmured Heero.

"Okay…want to go for a walk in the park?" asked Rei, "after all, it's clearing up."

The two walked in silence for a long time, until they came to a clearing in the park that Rei had never seen before. A giant Christmas tree glowed with an ethereal golden light, multi-colored ornaments of spun glass dangled from snowy branches. 

Rei was so intent on not missing a second of this beauty that she nearly missed a muttered remark from Heero:

"God, I love you." Rei spun around and stared at Heero, who looked almost as surprised as she was. Heero began to speak again, but Rei put a finger to his lips.

"My sentiments exactly." 

Rei leaned into Heero's arms, wrapping herself in his warm embrace and fell into a soul-searing kiss. Oblivious to the world around her, Rei felt her broken heart begin to heal; she melted in his arms. He pulled her closer as their mouths locked, smelling her sweet scent and savoring the taste of her lips. The two lovers stood wrapped in an embrace, as around them, snow began to fall again.

Merry Christmas, Yuy Heero.

Merry Christmas, Hino Rei.

I do believe you got your presents this year…

~~~**~~~

So…what'd you think? Express your opinions, please! MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!


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